ACWA Holding signs Joint Venture partnership with Air Products

The partnership will focus on the successful pursuit of large-scale industrial gas opportunities within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the GCC.The partnership will support the Kingdom's speedy economic development by achieving operational excellence, efficient resource utilization, enhanced capital efficiency and environmental protection through value added, innovative and best in class global Engineering Solutions

Mohammed A. Abunayyan, ACWA Holding Chairman said: "Partnering with Air Products which is one of the world's largest owners and developers of industrial gases, is a strategic move for ACWA Holding to broaden its economic contribution as a major private sector developer for the Kingdom and GCC. Furthermore, ACWA Holding's track record as a leading regional owner and developer of facilities in power generation, water desalination/treatment, sewage water treatment, district cooling and solar/waste management will enable the new joint venture to provide effective and competitive quality industrial gas facilities to serve the region's hydrocarbon and industrial markets."

Howard Castle-Smith, Air Products' Regional Vice President-Tonnage Gases Europe and Middle East said: "Our new venture with ACWA Holding complements Air Products' existing presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the GCC, providing a strong platform to further grow our business there by partnering with prime Saudi industrial investors and developers, ACWA Holding."

The new company ACWA Air Products Arabia also complements Air Products long-standing relationship with Abdullah Hashim Industrial Gases & Equipment Co. Ltd. (AHG), a company of the privately-owned Abdullah Hashim Group, based in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Air Products hasbeen serving the Middle East for over 50 years, and already operates a helium and cylinder gases filling and distribution facility, as well as a specialty gases center in the Jebel Ali Free Zone. Air Products already has offices in Bahrain, Doha, Qatar and Dubai and works closely with the region's petrochemical, gasification and refining industries; and has built, owned and operated air separation units (ASUs) and hydrogen production plants throughout the Middle East.

The new company will add to the success of ACWA Holding as a leading regional infrastructural developer in many areas specializing in power and water and attained remarkable success in just a few years. ACWA Holding recognized the rapidly growing demand for power and water in Saudi Arabia and identified the benefits that could be gained by both the public and private sectors from the privatization of these two sectors.

Since its founding, pursuing further expansion, ACWA Holding has developed an integrated strategy of diversification into complimentary infrastructure activities including utilities and water management; district cooling; pipe, aluminum and chemicals manufacturing; and industrial mining. More recently, ACWA Holding has widened its activities into other infrastructure-related businesses such as the development of privately-owned industrial cities, facilities management and transportation with considerable success in the areas of air cargo and the expansion of the Saudi transportation network and logistics in particular.